Golden Pipeline

Opened in January 1903, the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme, criticised as ‘a scheme of madness’, is now an internationally acclaimed engineering feat.

Designer CY O’Connor believed water could be pumped so far and lifted so high through a steel pipeline that it would reach the inhospitable goldfields almost 600 km from the storage reservoir.

The Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail celebrates one of the world’s greatest engineering marvels – a pipeline built 100 years ago to carry water from Mundaring Weir just outside Perth to the remote and semi-arid Goldfields of Kalgoorlie.

The Heritage Trail, like the pipeline itself, runs from Mundaring Weir in the Perth Hills to Mt Charlotte in Kalgoorlie.

The Heritage Trail follows the pipeline for much of its route and takes in many of the sites associated within the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme such as the amazing and now unused steam-fired pump stations. But along the way there is much more to see.

Part of the journey is along the old York to Goldfields Road, following in the footsteps of thousands of prospectors who walked, pushed barrows or cycled east to make their fortune. The Heritage Trail also follows the line of the railway as it pushed east to Kalgoorlie. You will see how water was harvested and stored before the pipeline was built, visit places of rare beauty and unique natural features, and learn about the many individuals who collectively helped to make this great pipeline a reality.

The Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail is the ideal companion drive to the Golden Quest Discovery Trail.